Lbp Am Sa Purchases 7,700 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Lbp Am Sa increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 0.8%, now holding a total of 936,031 shares worth approximately $192 million, making it the fund's 5th largest holding.
• Apple reported quarterly earnings of $1.57 EPS, exceeding estimates of $1.43, with a revenue of $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% year-over-year growth.
• Several brokerages have recently raised their target prices on Apple, with Marvin Stanley setting a price target of $298.00 and Tigress Financial raising theirs to $305.00, indicating strong market confidence.

Lbp Am Sa increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 936,031 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.7% of Lbp Am Sa's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Lbp Am Sa's holdings in Apple were worth $192,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $252.29 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $241.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.91. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.

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